Web Link
If you would like to visit the St Giles Trust web site, please click Here.
St.Giles Trust (www.stgilestrust.org.uk)
Tom's
Trust has agreed to help fund the work of St Giles and more specifically "SOS+",
a service that provides targeted support to young people across London
identified as being at serious risk of expulsion from school, offending and/or
gang involvement.
The SOS Service
The SOS service has
been running since 2006 and was developed with the aim of reducing serious
offending among young people aged 15-25. It originally started in Southwark
working with offenders within the age range 18-30 leaving Rochester Young
Offenders Institute.
SOS seeks to help ex gang members and ex offenders
make positive, sustainable lifestyle changes by directing them towards
education, training and employment opportunities in the community. Its unique
credibility derives from the fact that it is solely ex offender led. With the
support of caseworkers, clients are set targets monitored in the form of regular
meetings and channelled towards additional housing, family relations, substance
abuse or support building self-esteem if necessary. SOS operates pan London and
currently serves the Boroughs of Southwark, Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster,
Ealing, Croydon, Greenwich, Brent (and soon to be Hackney and
Lambeth).
SOS+ targets young people identified as being on the brink of
school/social exclusion and criminal activity. Prior to working in any of the
settings described above, a member from the team will meet with school/agency
staff to discuss expectations for the sessions and what modules/presentations
would work best. Modules and presentations vary in structure and length (half to
full day) depending on the request of agency/schools and the key issues
affecting young people in the area. Sessions are interactive and always generate
thought-provoking discussion that amounts to far more than a presentation. They
are designed to challenge the young people and as such, the SOS+ team will
remain on hand during lunch break to answer questions and help deal with issues
on a one-to-one basis. This also ensures they have time to find out who really
needs their help and those most at risk of being caught up in youth
violence/crime.
SOS has an enviable track record of breaking the cycle of
negative behaviour and offending. Indeed, an independent evaluation of their
work in Croydon found that the reoffending rate of 31% for the young people they
were supporting, all with extensive offending histories, compared favourably to
the national reconviction rate for this cohort which currently stands at between
58-70%.
Tom's Trust firmly believes that SOS+ is a unique social
initiative that significantly reduces the likelihood of young people joining
gangs, getting into trouble or re-offending, which is exactly the purpose of
this Memorial Trust.